“A gin pole is a simple and traditional method for raising a timber frame by hand, and straightforward solution to a site with little crane access. It’s constructed from a long, straight pole with a block and tackle hanging from the top, and two guy lines (in our case, come-alongs) that help to counter the weight of the pole and the timbers, and locate the posts in their mortises.”

“Sometimes the oldest technologies provide the best solution for the job at hand. From wedges and ramps to pulleys, I am surprised at how right my physics teachers were about the ubiquity of simple machines. When applied purposefully, with careful consideration, these approaches can be safer, simpler and cheaper. While I appreciate the romance associated with historic contraptions, ultimately, romance is not the reason we employ them.”

“An French illustration from 1870 shows us the unusual ways in which hand-driving lifting devices were used in the period. Push carts almost two metres long were lifted to 9.2 metres by hand cranks via an 11.5 metre long luffing lever, also operated by a worker, and then pushed further along a wooden path to a tipping point. This daring construction was almost 18 metres tall.”

“An improvement made by Mr. P. K. Dederick, of Albany, N.Y., was a horse-hoisting machine that very materially reduced the labor of the horse in hoisting. Previous to this, the horse walked forward to hoist a full bucket, and was obliged to back to lower the empty bucket into the hold of the vessel. With most horses, this latter was harder work than hoisting the loaded bucket, while the Dederick machine increased the speed of unloading but little, it reduced the labor of the horse about one-half.”

“At the beginning of the 20th century, all essential transport and machine movement, even in the building trade, was by water or rail. This left its marks on the cranes of the day, and a large number of rail-mounted crane structures were utilized – including the rather strange looking ‘crane locomotives’. These were steam locomotives to which a steam crane had been added.”